Whofi is a technology that can “read” a unique biometric trace of man. Uses Wi-Fi signal interference caused by the body.
Tracking people based on the body’s reaction to Wi-Fi signals may sound like a script from a science-fiction movie, but Italian scientists have proved that this is a reality. The team from the University of La Sapienza in Rome has developed a Whofi system that can recognize a specific person only on the basis of the way their body disturbs Wi-Fi waves. This technology works even when a person has no electronic devices with him.
Wi-Fi as a biometric scanner
Each of us in a unique way affects electromagnetic waves-although we do not notice it every day, our body structure, mass and way of moving introduce specific interference in the Wi-Fi signal. Scientists describe these disruptions as CSI (Channel State Information), i.e. a set of data describing how the signal changes when crossing the space. It is the analysis of these changes – with significant support of artificial intelligence – it is Whofi technology, an experimental biometric system developed by Italian researchers.
How does it work? The neural network “learns” to recognize the characteristic patterns of disturbances generated by a specific person, as a result of which something like a digital “fingerprint” is created, which – as researchers say – is so unique to distinguish between people with very high effectiveness.
Monitoring of the future? Whofi sees more than video cameras
In tests on a public NTU-Fi data set, the system achieved an effectiveness of up to 95.5%, which is a really impressive result. The results show how quickly this technology is developing – during preliminary tests in 2020, the effectiveness oscillated around 75%.
Okay, but why someone tracking via Wi-Fi? Well, let’s take the example of monitoring systems here. Cameras have their limitations, such as lighting or the range of vision, and the Wi-Fi signal does not recognize these things as a problem-it can even “see” through the walls and act regardless of external conditions.
Identification of people (Person Re-Iceptification) is a key and at the same time difficult task in video monitoring systems. Traditional methods are based on visual data, but problems such as poor lighting, coverings or adverse recording angles often reduce their effectiveness. To solve these challenges, we have developed Whofi-an innovative system using Wi-Fi signals to identify people-we read in the study.
Researchers point out that such a solution allows you to protect privacy in some way, because this technology does not register facial details, but on the other hand there may be a good fear that in the future every transition next to someone’s Wi-Fi network will be registered and associated with our biometric trail. The authors of such a vision do not exclude, but defend themselves that Wi-Fi tracking was created to protect man and improve safety in a discreet way-e.g. as a modern complement to the intelligent home systems.
Let’s imagine, however, that in the future our home routers not only provide access to the Internet, but also will act like invisible presence sensors, able to detect who is in the room – I don’t know how you, but this vision is a bit worried about me. For now, however, Whofi is in the experimental phase and far from introducing commercial devices.
Stock image from depositphotos
